Chapter 24
Knowing it had been neglected for a long time, I felt the deep loneliness emanating from it, and it suddenly made my heart feel weak.
No! Focus!
I shook my head lightly and stood in front of the lonely Raglia, bending at the waist.
“If you don’t make a contract with me, you won’t even get to see gold coins again!”
I had no idea when Yosef might show up. The more time I wasted, the more disadvantageous it was for me.
[Ugh! Ugh!]
Raglia groaned in pain.
“Make a contract with me. How long are you going to stay hidden in the basement? I’ll buy you jewels or whatever you want. Just make a contract with me. You know better than anyone that no one comes down here. If you miss this chance, it’ll be another hundred years before someone else comes by.”
[Really?!]
“Yes.”
[Then I must take Mari and Serena, and all the other gold coins as well!]
“…Alright. I’ll bring them slowly.”
Slowly.
Oh, so slowly.
[Then I will make the contract!]
That’s it!
I clapped my hands and smiled.
“Alright!”
I quickly pulled out the fountain pen I had prepared and without hesitation, used the nib to draw across my palm.
To engrave a master onto a dragon-killing weapon, it needed to be fed blood.
As someone who gets squeamish from even a paper cut, I really didn’t want to do something so harsh. But now wasn’t the time to be picky.
I was about to touch Raglia with my bloodstained palm when—
[There’s one more condition!]
See? I told you if I didn’t hurry, it would come up with some other demand.
I forced a smile and nodded.
“What’s the condition?”
[If you don’t offer me the rarest jewels in the world, I’ll take your two eyes!]
“…Is that all?”
[Yes!]
“Alright.”
I agreed gladly.
As soon as I touched it, Raglia’s surface began to heat up, as if it were sizzling.
“Ah!”
Because I was touching it with my palm, I had to absorb all the heat directly.
[You’ve mixed something strange in!]
Raglia’s voice changed eerily after drinking my blood.
A contract with a dragon approached the soul. It seemed like Raglia had learned something about me.
I quickly shouted.
“My name is Ijanna Rohiya. Raglia, who am I?”
[You are the liberator of the ring… I swear to obey you!]
Raglia seemed to hesitate for a moment, but when I glared at it, pointing at the gold coins, it screamed in agreement.
Soon, a red light spread, and the heat in my palm slowly began to fade.
In that brief moment, I was drenched in sweat.
“D-Did it work?”
[Hmph! Now bring me the jewels!]
At Raglia’s blunt words, I shrugged.
“I’ll bring them after we leave here. I’d like you to change into a more portable form.”
Right now, Raglia was too noticeable, and it wasn’t even in a size I could carry.
Soon, Raglia began to glow weakly and shrank, becoming a small bracelet that fit my arm perfectly.
[I favor red jewels the most! Next is green, then blue!]
As expected, just as it was described in the original story, it turned into a small silver bracelet with a red gemstone.
Satisfied with Raglia, I started pushing the gold coins back to their original place while listening to it mumble.
When the gold coins were stacked high again, I spoke to Raglia.
“Now, pick out Mari and Serena.”
[Why only two?]
“Just pick for now.”
[…That one below! No, not that one, the one next to it! That’s Mari! And the one on the opposite side is Serena! No, not that one! The one above! Yes, that one!]
I picked out two gold coins and said,
“I don’t have a bag to carry everything right now, so I’ll take just two for now. I’ll come back and get the rest later.”
[No! Take them now… Someone is coming!]
What? Someone’s coming?
I paused and listened, but I couldn’t hear anything.
However, since I trusted Raglia’s senses, I quickly headed for the secret passage entrance.
But then…
[No! Violet! Erina! You must take them all!]
Suddenly, Raglia, who had become frantic, pulled at my wrist and rushed toward the gold coins. At that moment, I clearly heard footsteps getting closer.
“No, I’ll come back later to take the rest…!”
[Now! Now!]
“Raglia, stop!”
Step. Step.
Finally, the footsteps stopped.
Right in front of the door.
***
Yosef, among countless keys, immediately found the key to the underground warehouse.
It was worn and polished from age, making it unusually shiny.
Without hesitation, Yosef inserted the key into the slot. The wooden door was full of signs of insects having eaten at it.
Creeeeak—
Yosef pulled the door open.
‘The lights are on.’
It was said that the underground warehouse often contained difficult-to-handle items.
Cursed objects or interesting but useless things could cause great harm if touched incorrectly.
In fact, it was rumored that the last time anyone entered this warehouse was after several servants died, and the place had since been largely forgotten.
So the fact that the lights were on made Yosef imagine many things.
He breathed in the thick, dusty air and started to explore the warehouse.
‘Has someone been here?’
Yosef’s expression hardened.
Everywhere in the warehouse, dust had accumulated. But there were unnatural marks on the crates, as if someone had touched them.
Yosef began to open the crates one by one, inspecting them as Ijanna had done, checking the items in the warehouse.
‘It doesn’t say what it looks like.’
But soon, he stopped checking and sighed quietly.
He wasn’t a fan of wasting time, and most importantly, there was no one to help if something went wrong here.
Yosef took a small flower from his pocket. He plucked its petals and sprinkled them into the air, murmuring,
“[Masterna Raglia].”
The petals, which had been slowly falling, suddenly all began spinning in the same direction.
If Raglia was still here, the petals would guide him. If not, they would scatter randomly.
Soon, disappointment shadowed Yosef’s face.
“…It’s not here.”
The petals spun in one direction before scattering in all directions.
Yosef bit his lip, deeply frustrated.
The final checklist had been marked. But now, nothing was here.
‘It might have been lost before.’
Perhaps the servants, who didn’t want to go to the basement, had just used an old list.
Yosef briefly tilted his head back, quietly calming himself.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a sound.
Clink—
The clear sound of metal echoed through the silent space. Yosef turned his gaze to the source.
Some gold coins, which hadn’t seemed interesting at all, had fallen from the pile.
…As if someone had been hiding inside.
Yosef slowly walked toward the pile of gold coins. It was large enough for one person to hide inside.
He reached his hand out to the pile of coins and opened his lips.
But before he could cast the sleeping spell, a chilling sensation ran down his back, making the hairs on his neck stand up.
And then—
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The horrific scream sounded as if it was coming from far away, yet it felt like it was right next to his ear.
His vision turned white, then slowly returned. Yosef staggered, and eventually, his knees buckled, and he collapsed.
“Ugh, what the…”
Yosef, his ears tightly covered, now focused his attention on the door.
Though faint, he felt the ground shaking slightly.
He glanced at the pile of gold coins and hurriedly left the warehouse. Of course, he didn’t forget to lock the door tightly.
He would come back, and whatever was inside couldn’t escape.
